After having objected to the government’s move on FDI in multi-brand retail and the Lokpal Bill, Trinamul Congress president and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has now raised a red flag to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre being set up by the Union home ministry, terming it an infringement on federal rights of the states.
The MHA has immediately swung into action to address her concerns. Top government officials said Union home secretary R.K. Singh spoke to West Bengal chief secretary on Tuesday to allay Ms Banerjee’s concerns.
The MHA has conveyed to the chief secretary that the powers given to the NCTC body empower it to deal with the criminal act of ‘’waging or attempting to wage war’’ against the Central government, a top government official said.
The MHA has said that the NCTC does not in any way step on the jurisdiction of the states and will only be dealing with terrorism-related cases.
The MHA’s move to douse Ms Banerjee’s concerns came soon after Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calling for a review of the recent MHA order on the setting up of the NCTC.
Incidentally, Ms Banerjee, Mr Patnaik and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar are already coordinating efforts in raising regional and federal issues.